Doctor's Advocate: Difference between revisions

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*"Hard Times" by [[Baby Huey (singer)|Baby Huey]]
*"Hard Times" by [[Baby Huey (singer)|Baby Huey]]
*"Gangster Boogie" by Chicago Gangsters
*"Gangster Boogie" by Chicago Gangsters
*"[[Mama Said Knock You Out (song)|Mama Said Knock You Out]]" by [[LL Cool J]]
*Interpolates "Swahililand" by [[Ahmad Jamal]]
*Interpolates "Swahililand" by [[Ahmad Jamal]]
*[[Amen, Brother]] by [[The Winstons]]
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Revision as of 10:10, 9 October 2008

Untitled

Doctor's Advocate is the second studio album by West Coast rapper The Game. It was released on November 14, 2006 by Geffen Records. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it The Game's second number one album.[1] The album was produced by three producers from The Game's debut album—Kanye West, Just Blaze and Scott Storch—as well as newcomers like will.i.am and Swizz Beatz. A difference between his debut album, The Documentary, and his second album is the absence of Dr. Dre. Although Dre does not appear on Doctor's Advocate, The Game dedicated the album to him,[2] and referenced him over 30 times throughout the album.[3][4]

The Game made a point to prove that he could still make music, as he did on The Documentary, without help from Dr. Dre or 50 Cent.[5][6] Guests featured on Doctor's Advocate include Busta Rhymes, Nas, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, Jamie Foxx and Xzibit.

Music

Lyrics

Doctor's Advocate contains various staples of West Coast hip hop albums including explicit rhymes about gang violence, drug use and sex. Other lyrical motifs include allusions to The Game's favorite hip hop artists and braggadocios rhymes.[7]

Production

The production on the album was praised by critics. Allmusic writer David Jeffries stated: "beat-makers like Kanye West, Just Blaze, Scott Storch and Swizz Beatz are all on fire" and went on to praise will.i.am's return his "hood sound after years with the polished Black Eyed Peas".[8] A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin noted that the beats created a "gleaming, hydraulics-enhanced '64 Impala of an album to ride".[9]

With its use of more West Coast-type beats, crispier drums, and deeper bass, the album leans more towards the West Coast sound than The Documentary. The album's production stands out with its combination of sampling and live instrumentation. Tracks like "Why You Hate the Game" combine soul samples with string arrangements, and piano-playing, while other tracks like "Remedy" rely heavily on sped-up funk samples. "Too Much" was noted for being an "ABBA-inspired disco-thump", while "Remedy" revolves around "pilfering Public Enemy's hard-hitting sound".[10] The production on "Ol' English" was depicted as "slow-rolling" music, and "Compton" was declared a "return to old-fashioned gangsta rap".[11] "Why You Hate the Game" was driven by a "sparkling piano-heavy...track".[12]

Reception

Critical

Doctor's Advocate received mostly favorable reviews from music critics.[13] Allmusic wrote that while the album "is nothing new" from The Documentary, "the fact remains that every track here is as good as or better than those on his debut."[8] Entertainment Weekly disagreed, saying "it doesn't live up to the nihilistic brilliance" of his previous album.[10] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone stated that the album "isn't the classic that message boards are calling it, but it is a middling yet pleasurable record." Hoard also wrote that "lyrically, it's a mixed bag. The Game is still kind of corny, but his skills have improved... He's more nimble and more assured than before, and he switches up his flow more often".[7] Stylus Magazine noted that The Game "brought his personality—occasionally funny, disarmingly needy, a little lunkheaded—into the booth" and that despite Dr. Dre's absence, "the album sounds just as big-budget and lavishly appointed as The Documentary".[14] The New York Times shared this view saying, "this album sounds much more like an Los Angeles album than its predecessor" and that the rapper "has a terrific voice, bassy and raspy".[15] Similarly, The A.V. Club wrote that The Game "boasts a raspy-voiced, belligerent charisma" and that the album "succeeds primarily on the strength of its beats."[9]

The album received a near perfect 4.5 mic rating from The Source.

Commercial

Doctor's Advocate sold 358,988 copies in its first week. It went to sell 3 millions copies worldwide.[16]

Track listing

# Title Songwriter(s) Producer(s) Featured guest(s) Sample(s) & Instrumentation (s) Time
1 "Lookin' at You" Taylor, J.
Pope, E. 		Ervin "EP" Pope
  • Keyboards: Ervin "EP" Pope
  • Guitars: Glenn Jeffery
  • Bass: E. Battle
  • Additional vocals: Mac Minister & Tracey Nelson
 3:37
2 "Da Shit" Taylor, J.
Abdul-Rahman, K.
Jasmine, J.
Rift. Z. 		DJ Khalil
  • "Ipecac" by Zoogz Rift
  • Excerpts from the film Tales from the Hood
  • Keyboards: DJ Khalil
  • Guitars & Bass: Daniel Seeff
  • Additional vocals: Janeen Jasmine & Tracey Nelson
 5:23
3 "It's Okay (One Blood)" Taylor, J.
Slater, S.
Collington, D.
Reid, D. 		Reefa
D-Roc (additional production) 		Junior Reid
  • "One Blood" by Junior Reid
 4:17
4 "Compton" Taylor, J.
Wicker, A.
Hinton, A.
Mayfield, C.
Weldon, D.
Wright, E.
Weaver, Jr., J.
Adams, W. 		will.i.am will.i.am 4:41
5 "Remedy" Taylor, J.
Hayes, I.
Smith, J. 		Just Blaze 2:57
6 "Let's Ride (Strip Club)" Taylor, J.
Storch, S. 		Scott Storch
  • Guitar: Aaron "Franchise" Fishbein
 3:57
7 "Too Much" Taylor, J.
Storch, S.
Hale, N. 		Scott Storch Nate Dogg 3:57
8 "Wouldn't Get Far" Taylor, J.
West, K.
McLeod, M.
Sawyer, P. 		Kanye West Kanye West
  • "I'd Find You Anywhere" by Creative Source
  • "Long Red" by Mountain
  • "All Bout U" by 2Pac
  • Additional drum programming by Patrick Gillin
 4:11
9 "Scream on Em" Taylor, J.
Dean, K. 		Swizz Beatz Swizz Beatz 4:20
10 "One Night" Taylor, J.
Lamb, D.
Bristol, D.
Edmonds, K.
Johnson,S. 		Nottz 4:27
11 "Doctor's Advocate" Taylor, J.
Smith, T.
Rotem, J.
Young, C.
Goldsmith, D. C. Hannibal (Vocals) 		J. R. Rotem Busta Rhymes
  • "Up Against the Wind" by Lori Perri (directly from the film Set It Off)
 5:03
12 "Ol' English" Taylor, J.
Cottrell, T. 		Hi-Tek Dion
  • Bass & Guitar: Erick Coomes
 4:44
13 "California Vacation" Taylor, J.
Broadus, C.
Joiner,A.
Rotem, J. 		J. R. Rotem Snoop Dogg
Xzibit
  • Additional vocals: Tracey Nelson
  • Borrows elements from Ice Cube's Ghetto Bird, namely the synth-driven intro.
 4:29
14 "Bang" Taylor, J.
Drew, D.
Arnaud, D.
Brown, R. 		Jellyroll Tha Dogg Pound 3:37
15 "Around the World" Taylor, J.
Porter, D.
Chavarria, M. 		Mr. Porter
Mike Chav (additional production) 		Jamie Foxx
  • Keyboards: Walter Howard
 4:02
16 "Why You Hate the Game" Taylor, J.
Smith, J.
Ambrosius, Marsha
Ambrosius, Marvin Paul
Jones, N.
Sloley, N. 		Just Blaze Nas
Marsha Ambrosius
  • "With You" by The Main Ingredient
  • Choir: The 1500 Choir
  • Drums & Strings: Just Blaze
  • Organ & Piano: Lamar Edwards & Larrance Dopson
  • Additional vocals: Andrea Martin
 9:22
* "I'm Chillin'" (UK Version) Taylor, J.
Adams, W.
Brown, J.
Sermon, E.
Smith, P. 		will.i.am will.i.am
Fergie 		4:33

An asterisk (*) indicates a bonus track.

Unreleased tracks

In 2007, The Game released several tracks that did not make the final cut for Doctor's Advocate on Amie Street, an online music store.[17]

# Title Featured guest(s) Time
1 "Breathe Eazy" RiZ
Nu Jerzey Devil 		4:33
2 "Around the Way" Keyshia Cole 3:49
3 "Beautiful Life" 4:40
4 "Murda" 4:02
5 "My Bitch" 4:49
6 "Still Me" Mýa 4:33
7 "Won't Stop" 4:18

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Charts (2006)[18] Peak
position
Australia Top 100 Albums 28
Austrian Albums Chart 46
Dutch Albums Chart 40
French Albums Chart 27
Canadian Albums Chart 1
German Albums Chart 29
Irish Albums Chart 8
New Zealand Albums Chart 15
Norwegian Albums Chart 24
Swiss Albums Chart 15
U.S. Billboard 200 1
UK Albums Chart 21
United World Chart 1

Singles

Year Song Chart positions
US US R&B US Rap Austria Finland Germany Ireland New Zealand Switzerland UK
2006 "It's Okay (One Blood) 71 33 15 68 9 41 16 25 - 26
"Let's Ride" 46 55 14 - 12 74 36 17 79 42
2007 "Wouldn't Get Far" (featuring Kanye West) 64 26 11 - - - - - - -

References

  1. ^ "The Game: Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved July 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa. "Doctor's Advocate Review". New York Times. Retrieved July 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Berkman, Seth. "Doctor's Advocate Review". PrefixMag.com. Retrieved July 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Dombal, Ryan. "Doctor's Advocate Review". Entertainment Weekly'. Retrieved July 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Bernard, Adam. "The Game Interview". RapReviews.com. Retrieved July 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Gamble, Ronnie. "The Game: Game Time Again (Interview)". BallerStatus.com. Retrieved July 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b Hoard, Christian. "Doctor's Advocate Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b Jeffries, David (2006). Doctor's Advocate Review. Allmusic. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  9. ^ a b Doctor's Advocate Review. The A.V. Club. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  10. ^ a b Dombal, Ryan (November 10, 2006). Doctor's Advocate (2006). Entertainment Weekly. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  11. ^ Pareles, J. (2006, December 26). James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul" dies at 73. The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  12. ^ Breihan, Tom. (November 14, 2006) The Game: Doctor's Advocate Pitchfork. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  13. ^ Doctor's Advocate. Metacritic. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  14. ^ Greene, Jayson (November 17, 2006). Doctor's Advocate. Stylus magazine. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  15. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (November 9, 2006). Repentant Yet Defiant, a Rapper at His Best. The New York Times. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  16. ^ Hasty, Katie. "The Game Wins No. 1 On The Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved July 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Amie Street – The Game's Music Store. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  18. ^ World Chart Positions. aCharts.us. Accessed September 5, 2007.


Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
November 26, 2006 – December 2, 2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United World Chart number-one album
December 2, 2006 		Succeeded by


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